Having received reports that Confederate troops were in the area, Capt. Hiram E. Barstow, Union
commander at Clark’s Mill, sent a detachment toward Gainesville and he led another southeastward. Barstow’s
men ran into a Confederate force, skirmished with them and drove them back. His column then fell back to Clark’s
Mill where he learned that another Confederate force was coming from the northeast. Unlimbering artillery to
command both approach roads, Barstow was soon engaged in a five-hour fight with the enemy. Under a white
flag, the Confederates demanded a surrender, and the Union, given their numerical inferiority, accepted. The
Confederates paroled the Union troops and departed after burning the blockhouse at Clark’s Mill. Clark’s Mill
helped the Confederates to maintain a toehold in southwest Missouri.

Results:

Confederate victory

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